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A street in N'Djamena, Chad renamed as Istanbul Street, 28 December 2017

Alaattin Dogru/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 14 February 2018.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the threats and violence that the Chadian security forces have used against Djimet Wiché, the publisher of the Alwihda Info news website, twice in recent weeks while he was covering streets protests in the capital, N'Djamena, against the government's austerity measures.

Wiché was covering one of these protests, a peaceful march organized by civil society groups, on 8 February 2018 when members of the National Security Agency (ANS) stopped him. He told DJA FM, a privately-owned radio station, that they took his camera and mobile phone and then handed him (and his equipment) to a police patrol.

The police detained him briefly by force and then, after making him promise not to publish his photos, released him and returned the confiscated camera and phone. "If you ever publish the photos in a newspaper or on social networks, we will know it was you and we'll come looking for you," the senior officer present warned Wiché.

Two weeks before that, on 25 January, Wiché was covering an anti-government demonstration when he was grabbed and punched by police officers and then dragged along the ground for about 100 metres. The spokesman for the national police gave him an apology the next day.

"Any form of violence or intimidation designed to prevent journalists from doing their job is completely unacceptable," RSF said. "The authorities must realize that journalists play an essential role by covering protests and must be allowed to perform their duties without fear of reprisals. We also remind the authorities that it is their job to guarantee the safety of journalists, especially in the run-up to legislative elections."

The police violence has been condemned by the head of the National Resistance Council for Democracy, Moussa Pascal Sougui, who told the authorities that they must allow journalists to work freely and without any form of obstruction.

Wiché has decided to file a complaint against the ANS and the police with the support of Chad's media unions.

Freedom Forum monitored FoE during the elections as it concerns citizens' freedom of expression through the ballot box. Therefore, any action creating an unfavourable atmosphere for the elections is also a violation of freedom of expression.

A recent HKJA survey indicates a slight rise in the Hong Kong Press Freedom Index after two consecutive years of decline. Journalists on the ground believe that the situation has worsened in 2016, compared to the year before. HKJA chairperson Sham Yee-lan explained that the slight increase in the Press Freedom Index was likely to be related to the emergence of online media, which has led to some diversity in the industry.

This report presents the findings of a three-month study focused on mapping, observing and analysing online harassment of journalists in Hungary. The study aimed to identify the types of harassment journalists are subject to, which journalists are typically harassed, who the harassers are, and how journalists cope with harassment.

Combining both violent and nonviolent methods, the Communist Party's policies are designed to curb the rapid growth of religious communities and eliminate certain beliefs and practices, while also harnessing aspects of religion that could serve the regime's political and economic interests.

Many journalists increasingly practice self-censorship, fearing retribution from security forces, military intelligence, and militant groups. Media outlets in 2016 remained under pressure to avoid reporting on or criticising human rights violations in counterterrorism operations. The Taliban and other armed groups threatened media outlets and targeted journalists and activists for their work.

Chinese authorities' enforced disappearance of critics from Hong Kong and other countries in 2016 garnered headlines globally. Beijing's decision to interfere in a politically charged court case in Hong Kong in November undermined judicial independence and the territory's autonomy. In the ethnic minority regions of Xinjiang and Tibet, Beijing continued its highly repressive rule, curtailing political activity and many peaceful expressions of ethnic and religious identity.

Bangladesh witnessed a spate of violent attacks against secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, foreigners, and members of religious minorities in 2016. Several laws were proposed during the year to increase restrictions on freedom of expression.

Freedom Forum observed a relatively peaceful atmosphere for the media this year (2016) with a significant decline in the number of press freedom violations. FF recorded only 25 incidents of press freedom violations during 2016 versus 83 in 2015.

Pakistan is among the countries that do not properly investigate and prosecute crimes against media professionals. Because of the near absolute level of impunity, most of the people who attack, injure or even murder media journalists in Pakistan remain free.

2016 is a highly significant year for Cambodian democracy. Looking back, 2016 marks 25 years since the conclusion of the Paris Peace Agreements (the “Paris Agreements”), which brought an end to 20 years of conflict in the Kingdom of Cambodia (“Cambodia”) and laid the framework for a political settlement based on human rights and liberal democracy; looking forward, 2016 marks the unofficial start of the lead‐up to the local and national elections in 2017 and 2018, respectively, as political actors across the spectrum begin to position themselves.

In the 27 cases of journalists murdered for their work in India since CPJ began keeping records in 1992, there have been no convictions. More than half of those killed reported regularly on corruption. The cases of Jagendra Singh, Umesh Rajput, and Akshay Singh, who died between 2011 and 2015, show how small-town journalists face greater risk in their reporting than those from larger outlets, and how India's culture of impunity is leaving the country's press vulnerable to threats and attacks

Latin America is, by far, the most dangerous region of the world for environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs). The lack of effective guarantees of human rights protection in Latin American States has created this dire situation.

Violence against journalists in Europe increased in the second quarter of 2016, reports submitted to Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom platform show, as a government crackdown in Turkey intensified and protests turned violent in countries from France to Finland.

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